The recovery of Alabama communities from the BP oil spill requires a commitment and focus on restoring the things that make the state strong — its people and its natural resources. This commitment must go beyond responding to the immediate aftermath, to include sustained efforts to ensure a foundation exists for long-term health, prosperity and resilience.

In coastal Alabama, the strength of the economy and quality of life includes activities like fishing, tourism and recreation. These industries are all inextricably linked to the health of the Gulf of Mexico, from Mobile Bay to the marine waters off Alabama’s beaches.

With more than $3 billion in spending on tourism, more than $455 million in sales impacts from recreational fishing, and over $1 billion in annual revenues from commercial fishing, seafood processing and related industries, the Gulf’s health is of paramount importance.

Unfortunately, the Gulf and its communities are paying the price for decades of ecosystem-wide degradation that has weakened the foundation necessary for a healthy and prosperous future — including the latest insult inflicted by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.

This ecosystem degradation negatively affects the health of the state’s economy and its long-term economic future.

It’s fitting, then, that the President’s Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force will gather Friday in Mobile for its third public meeting since being tasked with developing a strategy for comprehensive restoration of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.

Its mission is a critical one: to lay out an overarching strategy for long-term environmental restoration that supports healthy coastal and ocean areas and prosperous communities for the future.

In order to successfully restore the Gulf, this strategy must view the Gulf holistically — from the coast to marine waters — and focus on restoring the key services the ecosystem provides to coastal communities.

In its “Roadmap for Resilience,” the Coastal Recovery Commission of Alabama emphasized ecosystem restoration as a pathway for strengthening the region’s long-term adaptability and sustainability.

We applaud this emphasis and recommend that the following restoration priorities be addressed by the task force: creating healthy, sustainable and productive fisheries; restoring and enhancing key habitats such as wetlands, oyster reefs, barrier islands and seagrasses; and minimizing pollution.

Most important, the task force strategy must include a long-term monitoring plan that takes the pulse of the Gulf — tracking its health, identifying emerging problems and expediting solutions.

It must be noted that while the task force has an important role to play, its strategy alone won’t deliver the results the state and region need.

Congress also has an important role to play. We need the Gulf delegation to step up and lead efforts that redirect Clean Water Act fines paid by BP to fund long-term restoration of the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally, the public and the business community also have a key role to play in making Gulf restoration a regional and national priority.

Employment opportunities are expected to arrive from the restoration projects created from the task force’s strategy.

Those projects should incorporate the knowledge and skill sets of those who live in the region. Jobs from those projects should be prioritized for those who live in the region, who were directly impacted by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and who make their living off the Gulf’s natural resources.

We invite the public to join us at the task force meeting to help chart the course for a healthy and more prosperous Gulf.

(Chris Dorsett is director, Fish Conservation and Gulf Restoration Program, for the Ocean Conservancy. His email address is cdorsett@oceanconservancy.org. )